AquaRegia

It's been discussed at length here and here, among other topics. MANY possible answers have been proposed. We know it's "far future" from both the Stormlight E1 and Mistborn E2 storylines; I agree that the most popular answer is "a cosmere-aware group on First of the Sun"... but I'm not sure I would claim it has reached the level of "consensus".

In my opinion, it's always best to read things in publication order. You get exactly the experience the author intended that way. And in this most particular case, I STRONGLY advise reading MBSH only after BoM.

I can imagine gloryspren plate giving off light bright enough to disorient or blind opponents; also, gloryspren can FLY.

I never liked this idea... but even I have to admit it just keeps getting more and more plausible. If it turns out to be substantially correct, kudos to those who started speculating about it two and even three novels ago!

One of the interesting (crazy, weird, amazing, infuriating) things about fiction is that things can go in unexpected ways and still somehow seem to make sense. I think the OP makes a valid point, and it could certainly make sense if the relationship between Shallan and Jasnah plays out that way... but I don't think that will fit with Brandon's plans for the rest of the story, so I don't expect it. Maybe Jasnah and Shallan don't even interact directly anymore - that could make sense. Maybe Jasnah - utilitarian as always - treats Shallan as a dangerous yet useful tool. Or, maybe, Jasnah sees Shallan for what she is: a scared teenager who's done the best she can in difficult situations. I have no doubt Brandon could successfully sell me any of those options, plus more I can't even think of. Jasnah has demonstrated that she doesn't take things personally, and she has always felt like she's "above" everyone else, even before she became a queen. She may be the highest-ideal, longest tenured Radiant on the planet. I can see her being cautious with Shallan, but not fearful or spiteful. And Navani? She has demonstrated that she can compartmentalize her anger and act like the leader she is. She worked with Raboniel; she's accepted Szeth as a member of the team, even after his earnest attempt to murder Dalinar. She can work with Shallan if she needs to.

I believe a majority, but not all, agree with this. It seems the most likely explanation to me. Most of us are on board with Xisis = Foil. Two different dragons, at the bottom of two different oceans, both studying Aethers...? Too much coincidence. This, together with the facts that his full name is Xisisrefliel, and that plenty of immortal Cosmere beings have multiple aliases, is more than enough to satisfy me. Possible, but my gut says no. When Hoid talks about Shards, he usually refers to them by the name of the Vessel, not the Shard name. I think it's more likely he's just personifying Fortune here, but I don't feel strongly either way.

I saw this video today, in which we see real world experiments with fluidized sand. I'm struck by how nearly frictionless the motion of a boat sliding on the surface is; it's more like air hockey than sailing. It seems reasonable that a ship moving on something like fluidized spores might go MUCH faster than a ship in water. If so, "one day's sail" might be a considerably longer distance, allowing a significant increase in our estimate of Lumar's size. This would be ruled out by Hoid's assertion that the moons take up "fully 1/3 of the sky", among other logical and geometric considerations. In the case of equatorial moons, at least 3 or 4 would be visible simultaneously from anywhere near the equator... and they'd be touching or overlapping each other LOL

This just in (today's Kickstarter update): "Our first truckload of Tress of the Emerald Sea is finally here! Our fulfillment team will begin packing and shipping these immediately. PLEASE BE PATIENT! It will take a little bit of time for us to ramp up fulfillment of this book. With the large numbers of backers, we expect that the process to pack and ship these to backers will take us at least a month, but likely more as we can only pack the books as fast as we receive trucks from the bindery. You will receive an email when your box ships, and we will post an update when we have completed shipments. We will fulfill the Quarterly Books - All Formats and Quarterly Books - Premium Hardcover reward tiers first."

This just in (today's Kickstarter update): "Our first truckload of Tress of the Emerald Sea is finally here! Our fulfillment team will begin packing and shipping these immediately. PLEASE BE PATIENT! It will take a little bit of time for us to ramp up fulfillment of this book. With the large numbers of backers, we expect that the process to pack and ship these to backers will take us at least a month, but likely more as we can only pack the books as fast as we receive trucks from the bindery. You will receive an email when your box ships, and we will post an update when we have completed shipments. We will fulfill the Quarterly Books - All Formats and Quarterly Books - Premium Hardcover reward tiers first. Just in time for us to begin fulfillment on Tress, we completed shipping all Hoid themed swag boxes last week! Many of these boxes are still in transit, so please watch your tracking numbers before contacting us."

Dragonsteel is in uncharted waters. They have grown 300% since last year and are trying to fulfill literally the largest Kickstarter of all time. The TotES hardcovers were delayed by bad weather multiple times in December, to the point where the Tress box, originally planned for January, was bumped to February. My guess is that nobody's seeing a physical copy of TotES before mid-February.

I disagree. I think Brandon has made it pretty clear that Discord is not "the same Shard" as Harmony, in the same way "Harmony" was only one of a number of ways Ruin and Preservation could have been combined. I think one of the reasons Harmonium has the properties it does is because of Sazed's will, Identity and Intent. I think it's quite likely that Discordium will be a completely different metal with different properties. Names are social constructs, agreed... but Investiture is MAGIC. As others have noted, Sazed is feeling constrained and shackled by his conflicting Intents; what he really needs is Autonomy.

I agree Sazed would be very unlikely to DESTROY any memories; his lifetime as a Keeper would cry out against something like that. "Excising" memories and saving a copy? Definitely more possible. Question: do we actually KNOW Kelsier's body was a mistwraith? I stipulate it's the most plausible explanation, but has it been confirmed?

I didn't get my tracking number email until AFTER my box arrived. It must have exceeded the speed of light. edit to add: free shirt has been claimed. Wear with Honor and/or Whimsy.

@StormingTexan , @Inquisitor #5 , thank you! Yes, the quotes there definitely imply that Hoid and the 16 are saying "we're doing this for your own good" to Adonalsium. "This is going to hurt me a lot more than it's going to hurt you... but it's going to kill you." Anyone else get that vibe?

We know the Dawnshards were involved in the Shattering, right? We know Hoid was a Dawnshard. We know Hoid was present at the Shattering. Do we know whether Hoid was a Dawnshard at the Shattering? I feel like I'm playing Cosmere Clue: "Hoid, with the Dawnshard, at the Shattering!"

That's a great point. I think he frequently delights in being lawful evil in these situations. If only that question had instead been phrased "Are there currently any Shards, besides Harmony, being held by someone who is not the original Vessel?" We MAY have gotten a different answer... although there are still six Shards we know very little (or nothing) about, so a "yes" to that question still wouldn't necessarily tell us anything about the Vessels we do know of. Regarding Hoid's opinions of - and behavior at - the Shattering, it's interesting that I got an incorrect impression from TotES, specifically my recollection of the "it's for your own good" passage. I have not gone back to read it yet (I'm a n00b with these electronic versions)... if someone could quote that paragraph, it might help clear my head.

I think it's mostly to remind us that Hoid has known all these people since, well, they were still only people. He had personal relationships with them before they became Vessels. He was there, at the Shattering, trying to talk them out of it. However, if thinking of them as people serves to reduce their power, or lessen the effect of the Shardic Intent, even a tiny bit, I'm sure Hoid is all for it. Interestingly, the only current Vessels Hoid doesn't have long history with are and, to a lesser extent,

If we are going down the rabbit hole on this, we might also postulate that it would be probably be easier for someone to set up a secret facility on the floor of the bead ocean in Shadesmar than under the Physical water ocean on Roshar. I also think the most likely explanation is that Xisis is Foil. His full name is Xisisrefliel.

Was there anything in the story to support the claim that sea levels are constantly rising? That's not something that people living on an island would fail to notice, and I don't recall anything being mentioned about it.

They are moving a sufficiently large number of boxes each month that it's reasonable for them to be be spread out over several weeks. I got my box - the Hoid box, which was scheduled for later but got promoted to January due to book delays - but that doesn't mean you should panic if your box has not arrived yet. There is still plenty of January left.

I have not put Hoid anywhere cool yet either, but in related news: As witty as this shirt is, I already have way too many t-shirts that I need to explain to people. Frankly, it's becoming exhausting - I'm out of breath. I just don't see myself wearing this one. Therefore... *drumroll (+ flute)* FREE (with my compliments) to the first 17S nerd who messages me their address, one brand new size L "Hoid for President" t-shirt. Note: My hope is for someone who didn't (or couldn't) pledge the kickstarter to get a free goodie. If you have one already, let someone less fortunate in on the fun.

It was a comment by Khriss (in RoW Ars Arcanum) about someone named Foil, who many of us assume to be Xisis.

When in doubt, read things in the order in which they were published. That way you get exactly the "spoilers" the author intended.

I'm agreeing with @Leuthie. I also did not get the impression that Hoid is Returned, simply that he knows he's not really a "human being" anymore. I won't be surprised if it turns out Hoid is some kind of cognitive shadow, but we don't yet know for sure.

No, you didn't miss it - it's not there. It remains an open question. Many of us have speculated... but we don't know.